Note of the ODGB 12 July 2016

Open Data Governance Board Meeting

Tuesday 12^th July 2016

Attendance:  Minister Eoghan Murphy, Emer Coleman (Chair) Dennis Jennings, Ashling Cunningham, Denis Parfenov, Sandra Collins,  Cronan McNamara, Barry Lowry, Dietrich Rebholz

By Phone: Daithí Mac Síthigh, Sue Duke

Secretariat: Evelyn O'Connor, Martin Troy, Marian Beakey

Researcher Community Representatives: Rob Kitchin (NUIM), Christophe Debruyne (TCD), Aidan Kane (NUIG), Alan Barrett (ESRI), Ros Moran (HRB), Kalpana Shankar (UCD)

A number of documents had issued to the Board in advance of the meeting as follows:

i.Note of meeting on 7^th June;

ii.Concise progress report;

iii.Portal Analytics spreadsheets;

iv.Draft proposal on establishment of an Open Data Engagement Fund;

v.Draft proposal on commencing RFT process for establishment of an Open Data Support Framework Agreement.

The items on the agenda were discussed as set out below:

1.Minutes of 7^th June meeting.

The Minutes were taken as approved, subject to one minor amendment.

2.Actions arising

Documents outlining progress were circulated. However, due to the focus of this meeting, no further discussion was required. This will continue as a standing item for ODGB activities.

Action 1 (Secretariat)

Actions Arising Table to be updated on an ongoing basis, with completion dates included.

1. Meeting with Minister of State Eoghan Murphy T.D.

Minister Murphy is responsible for a number of key portfolios. In his role as Minister for eGovernment, the Minister is particularly interested in Open Data and will support the Board in progressing the Open Data Initiative.  The Minister supports the idea of hosting a hackathon during the autumn which focuses on a particular domain and offered to help in any way he could to ensure that the Open Data Initiative remains a priority for public bodies and his Ministerial colleagues.

Action 2 (All)

Consider data domain for event in Q3 2016 (hackathon or other event)

1. Meeting with representatives of Researcher Stakeholder Group

Six representatives of the “Researchers” Stakeholder Group joined the meeting to discuss their views on Open Data with a focus on:

• Researchers as data users;
• Researchers as data suppliers;
• Research activities;
• General issues

The discussion focussed on:

• the challenge of building a National Data Infrastructure and the need to ensure various initiatives are joined up;
• the potential supports needed to ensure anonymisation and other quality assurance;
• establishing good data management processes for the entire data lifecycle;
• Some datasets have greater value than others e.g. data collected for social science and economics perspective
• Some public bodies have vast amounts of good data which is not published
• building the required capacity and skillsets for better data management processes;
• ensuring that these processes are followed, by building data management, publication and preservation into funding models; and
• developing use cases to demonstrate the value of better data management and Open Data publication.

The Board acknowledged the importance of ensuring better data publication and management standards; adopting better data custodianship and archiving models;

The Secretariat invited the Researchers to consider and comment on the “Vision for the Research Community” set out in the Open Data Strategy Foundation Document which identified opportunities for Researchers to:

• Identify emerging national and international trends for Open Data.
• Develop metrics that allow benefits capture: for example, what contribution does Open Data make to improving efficiency and effectiveness of Public Service delivery.
• Identify opportunities to improve accountability and transparency through Open Data.
• Consider the potential for increasing citizen engagement in Open Data activities.
• Through publication of Use Cases, help drive uptake of Open Data for Research and Development purposes.
• Use Open Data to further innovation through research and, where the research is public-funded, make their research findings available in Open Data formats.
• Identify future skills needs to ensure students acquire the skills necessary to succeed in a data-driven economy.

Action 3 (Researchers)

Consider the “Vision for the Research Community” in the Open Data Foundation Document and revert with observations.

5.AOB –

a). Business Stakeholders

The Board will consider possible representatives from the Business Community and revert to the Secretariat in time for invitations to the 5 September Board Meeting.

b). Role of the Board (and reimbursement of travel expenses)

The Secretariat was asked to prepare a short paper proposing how the Board might support outreach and engagement activities around the Open Data Initiative. A proposal will be submitted to the Board before the meeting on the 5^th September.

Action 4 (Board)

Revert with suggested representatives of the Business Stakeholder Group for the meeting on 5^th September.

Action 5 (Secretariat)

Prepare paper outlining how Board can support Open Data Initiative activities and reimbursement procedures.

Action 6 (Sandra)

Sandra to send short note to Board outlining the value of meeting librarians.

_______________________

Open Data Unit

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

July 2016